With many thanks to Brian Judson, without whom this feature would not be possible
Tuesday, 18 December 2001
Arsenal v Newcastle United 1-3
There was a stormy ended to this match as Thierry Henry exploded in
frustration and tried to confront referee Graham Poll. Henry had to be
frogmarched away from the referee. It had all looked so different earlier.
Pires had put the Gunners ahead in the 20th minute when he scissor-kicked
the ball across the goalmouth where Cole was waiting to play the ball back
to Pires, who hammered the ball home. Near the end of the first half,
Parlour was dismissed when he picked up a second yellow card. Shearer
tried to prevent Parlour from being sent off as there was no malice in the
tackle but it was to no avail. O'Brien equalised for Newcastle in the 60th
minute when Lua Lua took a corner and O'Brien headed home. Bellamy was
then sent off for apparently catching Cole with his arm. Then with five
minutes to go, Campbell conceded a penalty by bringing down Robert.
Shearer made no mistake with his 85th minute penalty. Robert then ensured
the points were destined for Newcastle by adding a third goal in the 90th
minute. The victory took Newcastle to the top of the League by virtue of
having scored more goals than Liverpool.
Wednesday 19 December 2001
Leeds United v Everton 3-2
This match was overshadowed by Bowyer's refusal to accept disciplinary
action by Leeds following the end of his court case and being placed on
the transfer list. He has been given an ultimatum that he must accept the
discipline imposed or he will be transferred from Leeds.
Viduka put Leeds ahead after 19 minutes when Kelly had supplied the centre
from which Viduka headed home. Gascoigne came on as substitute for
Pembridge shortly afterwards. Fowler added a second goal for Leeds in the
26th minute when he chested the ball down and hammered it behind Simonsen.
Pistone was carried off with a badly swollen knee. Fowler ensured Leeds
would win when he added a third goal in the 71st minute when Xavier
deflected a Batty shot into Fowler's path for the Merseysider to
gratefully score. Moore reduced the arrears in the 84th minute when he
volleyed the ball home. Weir reduced the arrears further in the 90th
minute when he headed home Tal's corner but it was too late.
Saturday 22 December 2001
Charlton Athletic v Blackburn Rovers 0-2
The visitors grabbed two second-half goals to snatch the points. Both came
late in the match. Duff scored the first in the 57th minute when Gillespie
provided the pass that gave him the chance to score. Deep in injury time,
Dunn snatched a second goal when Gillespie tore down the wing and centred
the ball for Dunn to score.
Derby County v Aston Villa 3-1
Two of the four goals came deep in injury time as both sides spurned a
host of chances. Kinkladze took a corner, Riggott chested the ball down
and Ravenelli fired the ball behind Schmeichel. Within seconds, Angel had
hooked home an equaliser. Villa looked certain to be taking the points
home as they dominated the early stages of the second half but could not
score again. In the 67th minute, Ravenelli's cross caught Schmeichel in
two minds and Carbone took advantage of it to fire Derby ahead. With three
minutes left, Christie added a third as Villa pushed forward for an
equaliser. Burton provided the pass from which Christie scored.
Leeds United v Newcastle United 3-4
This match was overshadowed by events that occurred off the field two
years ago. Bowyer made a comeback in this match after several weeks on the
injured list and a few days after making a brief appearance on the
transfer list. Newcastle took a 38th minute lead when Shearer sent Dyer
down the right wing to send a low pass into Bellamy's path for the latter
to give the Magpies the lead. Barely had the celebrations ended but Leeds
were level. Viduka slipped the ball to Bowyer, who eluded Dabizas on the
edge of the penalty area to fire a low shot home. Bowyer provided the pass
for Johnson, who fed Viduka in the 50th minute to give the Australian the
opportunity to turn O'Brien and fire a shot that put Leeds ahead. Six
minutes later, Harte increased their lead when a mishit shot from Bowyer
dropped nicely for him to push them further ahead. But within two minutes,
Elliott had reduced the arrears by heading home. Bakke was then adjudged
to have handled a ball in the penalty area which Shearer converted in the
71st minute. Then, in the final minute, Solano strode through the Leeds
defence to give the Magpies an improbable winner to keep them at the top
of the table.
Leicester City v West Ham United 1-1
The match was overshadowed by the dismissal of Leicester skipper Elliot in
a flare-up with Trevor Sinclair. Izzet had put Leicester ahead two minutes
before the break when James failed to hold a cross from Oakes and the ball
went for a corner. From the corner, James pushed the ball to Scowcroft,
who pushed the ball back for Izzet to score from 20 yards out. With 17
minutes left, Elliot appeared to bring down Joe Cole and the referee
awarded a penalty. Elliott headbutted Sinclair and was promptly sent off.
Di Canio took the penalty by conning Walker into thinking he was going to
put the ball one way and then sent it the other.
Manchester United v Southampton 6-1
There were only 20 seconds on the clock when van Nistleroy fired
Manchester United ahead. A second goal followed in the 34th minute when
Butt saw a shot rebound off Williams and Keane headed the ball to van
Nistleroy, who prodded the ball home from six yards. Solksjaer forced the
ball home four minutes before the break from a Butt corner. Van Nistleroy
completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute when he was put through by
Scholes. Southampton then scored a consolation goal when Telfer crossed
into the middle for Pahars to score. Giggs provided the pass from which
Keane scored in the 72nd minute and the Welshman provided the pass from
which Phil Neville completed the rout in the 78th minute.
Middlesbrough v Fulham P-P
The pitch was playable but the game was called off because the streets
around the ground were ice-bound.
Sunderland v Everton 1-0
Reyna scored the only goal of the game in the 77th minute when Unsworth
could only deflect a shot from Phillips into Reyna's path for the American
to score. There were very few shots otherwise in an unremarkable match. It
has to be said however that part of the match was played in a blizzard of
snow.
Tottenham Hotspur v Ipswich Town 1-2
As is my normal custom, I am not commenting on this match except to say
that I have seen the Sheringham incident and think that from the angle of
the TV camera he DID punch the Ipswich defender. Full report available here
Sunday 23 December 2001
Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers 5-1
Nolan put Bolton ahead after only 3 minutes when a corner was partially
cleared by Chelsea but Gardiner pushed the ball back to Frandsen whose low
cross was headed home by Nolan. Chelsea equalised in the 41st minute when
Hasselbaink provided the pass for the Icelander to equalise. Deep in
injury time, Hasselbaink put Chelsea ahead when put through by Gudjohnsen.
Zenden made sure of the points when he lobbed the ball home in the 56th
minute. Hendry then conceded a spectacular own goal in the 76th minute.
With three minutes left, Lampard completed the rout.
Liverpool v Arsenal 1-2
This was Liverpool's first home defeat by a London side since Spurs won at
Anfield in 1993. They have only themselves to blame. Arsenal were already
down to 10 players as Van Bronckhorst was sent off for two bookable
offences early in the first half, disrupting the Gunners. Owen thought he
had scored as he was sure the ball had crossed the line before Cole hooked
it clear. But Henry fired them ahead after a penalty after Dudek had
upended Ljungberg in injury time. Pires then robbed Gerrard of the ball in
the 53rd minute and provided the pass from which Ljungberg scored. But
Liverpool reduced the arrears three minutes later when Riise and Litmanen
swapped passes for the latter player to score. Liverpool piled on the
pressure but their shooting was poor and Owen out of form and they never
really looked like scoring again.
Pos Pl. W. D. L. For-Ag Pts.
1 Newcastle 18 11 3 4 34-23 36
2 Arsenal 18 9 6 3 37-22 33
3 Liverpool 17 10 3 4 26-17 33
4 Leeds 18 8 8 2 26-17 32
5 Man Utd 18 9 3 6 43-28 30
6 Chelsea 18 7 9 2 28-13 30
7 Spurs 18 8 3 7 30-25 27
8 A. Villa 18 7 6 5 24-22 27
9 Everton 18 6 5 7 23-23 23
10 Fulham 17 5 8 4 17-17 23
11 Sunderland 18 6 5 7 14-17 23
12 Blackburn 18 5 7 5 25-21 22
13 Charlton 18 5 7 6 21-22 22
14 Bolton 18 5 6 7 21-26 21
15 West Ham 18 5 6 7 20-29 21
16 M'brough 17 5 4 8 17-23 19
17 So'ton 17 5 1 11 18-30 16
18 Derby 18 4 4 10 14-31 16
19 Leicester 18 3 6 9 12-32 15
20 Ipswich 18 2 6 10 17-28 12
